European market requirements for four and five pole circuit breakers have increased the number of individual circuit breakers that are fastened together to meet the additional pole requirements. To provide the additional strength to the circuit breaker handles, a metal pin is usually inserted through the handles and a plastic trough is then positioned over the handles to insure that all the handles respond in unison when one of the handles is actuated.
The provision of holes through the handles and the placement of the metal pin through the aligned holes present a problem when such circuit breakers are manufactured in a highly automated assembly process.
In some applications, grooves are formed in the top surface of the circuit breaker handles to allow the pins to be down-loaded during assembly.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,172,087 discloses a metal trough positioned over the pinned handles to provided added strength to the handles to insure that all the circuit breaker handles respond when a closing or opening force is applied to an end of the pinned handles rather than to the center.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,166,988 concerns the use of a single handle extension from the center of the pinned handles to insure that the pinned handles respond in unison.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,980,525 describes a press-fit connection between the plastic trough positioned over the pinned circuit breaker handles and the exposed portions of the metal pin to force the pinned handles to move in unison.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,906,958 teaches the use of a slotted plastic trough positioned over the circuit breaker handles to provide sufficient clearance within a circuit breaker load center enclosure.
One purpose of the instant invention is to provide a circuit breaker handle tie assembly that can be down-loaded in an automated circuit breaker manufacturing process and which does not require a metal pin for added strength.